It is alleged that Mrs Grace Adeleye carried out the
procedure with no anaesthetic or local pain relief and left a
"ragged" wound which caused the baby to bleed to death in April 2010.

Unlike girls in the UK, boys have no legal protection against
adults who want to perform medically unnecessary surgery on their genitals
without anaesthetic in backstreet settings such as homes, restaurants and
community centres.

The midwife in this case is not charged with performing the act,
but performing the act in a negligent way

In an similar case earlier this year, a baby boy bled to death after Rabbi Mordehai Cohen, who performed a ‘backstreet circumcision’ at a home
in Queens Park, London, advised his concerned mother to stem the bleeding from
the wound with Vaseline (petroleum jelly), but he was not considered to have
been negligent.

In Manchester, up to three boys every month to the Royal Manchester Children's Hospital because of bleeding
after 'backstreet circumcisions' performed in people’s homes.

In the Manchester case reported on the BBC website, four-week old Goodluck Caubergs died the day after nurse Grace
Adeleye carried out the procedure without anaesthetic, Manchester Crown Court
was told.

The jury heard the 66-year-old only used scissors, forceps and
olive oil at an address in Chadderton, Greater Manchester in April 2010.

Mrs Adeleye denies manslaughter by gross negligence.

The court heard the medic and Goodluck's parents are originally
from Nigeria, where the circumcision of newborns is the tradition for Christian
families.

Mrs Adeleye, of Sarnia Court, Salford, was paid £100 to do the
operation as Goodluck's parents did not know the procedure was available on the
NHS.

It is alleged the defendant, who is also a midwife, left a
"ragged" wound that bled and her post-operative care was inadequate.

The family home, where the procedure took place, is a mile and a
half from Royal Oldham Hospital.

Adrian Darbishire QC, opening the case for the prosecution, told
the jury: "The allegation essentially here is that the care she provided
in the course of that procedure was so bad that not only did it cause the death
of that young baby wholly unnecessarily, but it amounted to gross negligence
and a crime."

The court heard that up to three children a month are admitted
to the Royal Manchester Children's Hospital because of bleeding after
home-based circumcisions - a danger the nurse should have been aware of.

Mrs Adeleye went to Goodluck's home on 16 April 2010, telling
his mother to fetch some olive oil and a bowl of warm water and stripping the
baby to his vest, the jury was told.

The defendant brought her "instruments" out of her
handbag and dipped a pair of scissors into the water in a kidney dish.

She carried out the procedure with no anaesthetic or local pain
relief before cleaning the wound with cotton wool and applied a bandage, the
court heard.

Between 30 and 40 minutes after surgery, Mrs Adeleye left without
making any proper checks on the patient, Mr Darbishire said.

Later, the parents found the bandage had come off the wound,
which dripped with blood and there was blood in Goodluck's nappy.

Mr Darbishire said even a small amount of blood loss is dangerous
and the loss of just one sixth of a pint of blood can be fatal for a newborn.

A post-mortem examination revealed Goodluck's death was caused
by a loss of blood.

Sunday, 5 August 2012

The former Head of Child Surgery at Copenhagen’s largest hospital has accused the Danish chief Rabbi of lying.

In a startling interview on Danish TV, the Danish Chief Rabbi, Bent Lexner, claimed that he has overseen the circumcision of around one thousand baby boys over 40 years and that there hasn’t been one complication.

However, one of Denmark’s leading pediatricians, Dr Preben Kirkegaard, says that he has seen several cases every year of baby boys with circumcision complications including life-threatening conditions – and says some of these were carried out by the Chief Rabbi who claims there has never been a complication.

Even without Dr Kirkegaard’s powerful testimony the claim that there has never been a complication is startling as all surgery carries risk – even circumcisions carried out by skilled surgeons in medical settings.

The TV feature also carries an interview with Kjeld Koplev a Danish radio journalist who was born into a Jewish family and circumcised as a baby who says:

“It is torture and mutilation of male infants. Why should a Rabbi who doesn’t have a medical education be allowed to do that?”

Saturday, 4 August 2012

More evidence that the campaign to End Unnecessary Male Circumcision is a global grassroots movement comes from Israel where more and more parents are choosing not to circumcise their sons.

An extensive article on circumcision in Israel by the country's oldest daily newspaper - Haaretz - reveals that nearly a third of Israeli parents would prefer not to circumcise their sons.

Quoting an informal online survey conducted by the Israeli parenting portal, Mamy, around 5% of Israeli parents no longer circumcise their children because the object to disfiguring their children's bodies or they don't want to inflict pain on their children

According to the newspaper, increasing numbers of Jewish parents are choosing not to have their sons circumcised and support groups have been set up to help parents agonizing over the decision.

The internet is also playing an important role in increasing the anti-circumcision movement in Israel with the Tapuz portal hosting a forum in Hebrew called 'Forgoing Circumcision' which reports a constant growth in traffic over the past decade.

Friday, 20 July 2012

Please come and support the delivery of a letter supporting the Cologne ruling on male circumcision to the German Embassy at 23 Belgrave Square London SW1X 8PZ at 15:00 on Saturday afternoon leaving time to get there and get home.

Please no independent banners etc. The current climate needs to be respected. There will be some t-shirts and A3 cards hold. Also of course copies of the letter. I know time is tight, short notice but if you can lend your support it would be great to see you.

Saturday, 14 July 2012

When baby boys are bleeding to death in our communities as the result of being subjected to a medically unnecessary surgery its time to take action. Here are just some of the reasons why doing nothing is no longer an option (click on the links for more information):

When baby boys are being injured and killed by a medically unnecessary practice it's time to take action - please click here to sign our online petition and help us End Unnecessary Male Circumcision in the UK.

Mr Checketts also confirmed that in 2011, 11
baby boys aged 0-1 years old were admitted to the paediatric intensive care unit
with life-threatening complications directly caused by circumcision.

The circumcision complications they were treated for included life threatening haemorrhage, shock and sepsis (which is the body’s immune system overacting to an infection)

Dr Antony Lempert of the Secular Medical Forum said:

“There are practically no therapeutic indications for circumcision in this age group so these 11 boys nearly died for an operation they didn't need. This is clearly the tip of the iceberg.

“We don't yet know whether or not the circumcisions were performed in hospital or in the community but we do know that Birmingham primary care trust has commissioned a circumcision service so it is likely that a significant proportion of these were done on the NHS.”